The Hide (Norton Paperback Fiction)
Books / Paperback
ISBN: 0393316327 / Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, July 1997
Obsessively pursuing a bizarre underground life of darkness and spying, Simon sees innocent Josh as a threat to the labyrinth of tunnels he has built under his sister Audrey's estate and takes steps to prevent their exposure
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This early work by the Booker Prize-winning author Barry Unsworth chronicles one of his literary obsessions the corruption of innocence and forms it into a compelling contemporary narrative set in the rambling, overgrown grounds of an English estate. There, relying on his rich sister Audrey's beneficence, Simon obsessively digs a secret system of tunnels from which to spy on others. When Josh, a good-looking naif, becomes a gardener at Audrey's home, the two women of the household, Audrey and her distant relative and housekeeper, Marion, find Josh's strength and seeming innocence a potent spell, and his response escalates unacknowledged tensions between them. Meanwhile, Simon, worried about Josh, takes steps to prevent the exposure of his underground labyrinth. The explosive chemistry between the characters will eventually rip apart and rearrange all their lives.
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